


A Ridiculous Honor

by kenzieann27



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26711848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenzieann27/pseuds/kenzieann27
Summary: Working through a school project with Stan has its ups, but unfortunately for Richie it also has its many, many downs. Fortunately for Richie, he has a pretty great boyfriend to help him through it.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough & Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Kudos: 15





	A Ridiculous Honor

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by a lovely anon on tumblr, so thank you for opening my eyes to how beautiful these boys are!
> 
> (part of a prompt request - #90, "can... can you come over?")

Despite his obnoxiously high self-esteem- or, at least, the self-esteem he put up to keep others interested in him- Richie Tozier was not as amazing at everything as he said he was. His latest realization of this, oddly enough, was during a particularly taxing history project that was due in two days. Though he had expected Stan to complete most of the work due to his obsessive personality, it proved to be a difficult project for both of them. Neither Stan nor Richie were artists, so making a popsicle stick model of the Eiffel Tower was not in either of their comfort zones.

"Why couldn't we just have made the Washington Monument?" Richie had groaned, understanding that Stan was just as frustrated with the project as he was.

"Because I am better than that, Richie," Stan shook his head, cursing to himself as he noticed their tower was crooked. "And so are you."

"Stanny, don't even _try_ to pretend like that's true."

For the past week, the two accomplished little more than bickering endlessly, with Stan arguing that it was Richie's responsibility to build the model as he wrote the essay and researched the "fun facts" about the history of a building he couldn't care much less about.

Unfortunately for Richie, keeping his mind focused on such a tedious task as gluing popsicle sticks together was not something that he was most equipped to take on. Fortunately for Richie, however, he knew someone who absolutely _adored_ that sort of thing, and he just so happened to be dating him.

"Ben? Yeah, it's me," Richie answered quietly, twisting the long cord in his fingers as he listened to his boyfriend mumble tiredly about something he couldn't really understand. "I, uh… I know it's late, and I'm sorry for calling you, but-"

"Richie, you know I love you, but could this wait until tomorrow?" Ben yawned, causing Richie to regret calling him in the first place.

"It is, like, two- three in the morning. Is everything okay?"

Richie shook his head, unsure whether the words in his head were going to make it out of his mouth. " **Can… can you come over?** "

"Are you okay?"

"I need your help, I just," Richie groaned in frustration, _really_ regretting calling his boyfriend at this ungodly hour when the request for help wasn't due to an emergency in the slightest. "Stan will kill me if I don't get this done, Ben, and I- everything I do just messes it up even more."

Richie heard Ben sigh over the receiver, opening his mouth to say something as Ben's voice answered clearly, alerting Richie that he was more awake than he had been a few minutes ago. "Give me ten minutes, okay?"

Richie wasn't sure what made him so upset about this project; part of him wanted to blame it on Stan's perfectionist mind, though the other part wanted to blame himself for procrastinating and not asking for help until now, until his feelings had been bottled up so much that he disrupted Ben's sleep on a Saturday, a fucking _Saturday_ , so that he could get the help he needed.

He didn't know what he did to deserve Ben.

"I'm sorry for getting all… you know," Richie laughed nervously as the two sat on the ugly beige carpet in Richie's bedroom, trying to stay somewhat quiet as his parents were just asleep down the hall. "Stan's been riding my ass about getting this stupid model done, and I- I'm not good with my hands."

"I'm too tired to point out those double entendres, babe, but I hope you know that they are there," Ben smiled, handing Richie the small bottle of glue. "You might not be the most coordinated person I know, but I know you can do this. No offense to Stan, but sometimes you just need to work with someone that isn't yelling at you consistently to make sure everything is perfect."

"Are you going to bust out your protractor and your measuring tape?"

"Bill and I still need those to add the finishing touches on our Golden Gate Bridge, so no," Ben laughed, admiring the way Richie closed one of his eyes whenever he glued a new popsicle stick onto the tower. "Plus, I think it looks nice the way it is, even if I can see your teeth marks on some of the sticks."

"Sorry, I just- I chew on things when I get nervous," Richie shook his head, glancing over at Ben before regaining focus on the project. "Do you think Stan will notice them?"

"Stan notices when you're wearing one of your- what do you call them- 'winter Hawaiian shirts' in the spring. He wouldn't be Stan if he _didn't_ notice this."

"Yeah, well… as long as I get an A from Mr. Hanscom himself, then I think I did pretty okay," Richie smiled, giving Ben a lazy wink before turning the tower around, looking to Ben for approval on his progress.

"What do you think so far?"

"I think it looks great," Ben smiled, getting close to the tower and looking at it as if he were judging it professionally. "Like I always say, a strong foundation is key to any structure. Including popsicle-stick Eiffel Towers, obviously."

"Obviously," Richie repeated, placing the cap back on the glue bottle. "I, uh… I think I am sort of done for tonight, I'll try figuring out the rest tomorrow afternoon- after I sleep."

"Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight? Ben asked softly, rubbing sleepily at his eye. "My mom's working nights again, so it would be nice to stay somewhere I don't feel so alone. Exclusively for friendship purposes, of course."

Richie hummed in response, standing up from the floor and reaching his hand out to help Ben. "I suppose the least I could do is let you stay the night here, since you helped me with my project- for friendship purposes."

Ben smiled as he looked up at his lanky boyfriend- even if he was only about four inches taller than he was, he could tell Richie appreciated those four inches more than anything. "Well, that's mighty kind of you to do, Mr. Tozier."

"Oh God," Richie pulled a rather ugly face, not so much because he was called 'Mr. Tozier' but rather because of Ben's voice that was _certainly_ nowhere near as good as his. "You know 'Mr. Tozier' is my father, right?"

"Well, he'd be _Doctor_ Tozier, actually."

"Ben… shut up," Richie shook his head, feigning annoyance with the person they both knew he loved more than anyone else in the world- well, romantically, that is. In terms of general love, and not getting down to specifics, everyone knew Richie had a soft spot in his heart for one bird-loving dork; no one could fault him for that, of course, as they _had_ been friends since kindergarten.

"Why don't you make me shut up, then?"

"Oh my God," Richie giggled, struggling to contain the laughter behind his hand. "You must be more exhausted than I thought if you're coming over here saying that shit."

"Am I not allowed to want to kiss my dumbass boyfriend?" Ben asked, a bit of confusion appearing on his face as Richie continued to laugh. "Especially when he's being an even bigger dumbass than usual?"

"Hey, working with Stan on shit like this is impossible, you know that," Richie shook his head. "'No, Richie, don't use _that_ stick _there_ , I'll start crying if you mix the thin sticks with the thick ones.'"

"That's not very nice, Richie. Stan just gets upset more than we do, and you shouldn't tease him because of that."

"I know, but it's just- he's _always_ been like this. I love him, but it's not easy to deal with that all the time." Richie moved the half-completed model under his desk, standing back up and taking a seat on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry for waking you up and dragging you over here. I should have been able to work it out on my own."

"You don't need to apologize for that," Ben said softly, taking a seat next to Richie and reaching over to hold his hand. "I love spending time with you- I just wasn't expecting to spend time with you at three in the morning, that's all."

"You're supposed to be sleeping, Ben, and I just-"

"Richie, honey, I love you for the person that you are, not the person you think you're supposed to be," Ben smiled, nudging Richie softly with his shoulder. "I mean, Coach Thompson thinks I'm _supposed_ to be losing more weight than I am, but I don't care what he thinks. I'm happy with the way I look. And I'm _beyond_ happy being with you."

"But I'm not-"

Richie would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't expecting a kiss, though that wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing. Ben's kisses, he realized, were more than he thought they could be, but just what he expected; they were soft, of course- it's _Ben_ , for fuck's sake. Ben Hanscom was practically the human version of a warm chocolate chip cookie wrapped in a fluffy cloud; he was everything anyone could have ever wanted in a person, as if God himself wanted to create the absolute perfect human being. A human being that Richie Tozier, the gaudy, troublesome teenager with eyesight just about as great as his ability to hold his tongue, was so privileged to call his; a human being that, in Richie's overactive mind, he couldn't help but think he didn't deserve.

But, of course, a kiss did not happen that night. Ben- sweet, sweet Ben- could tell quite early in their conversation that Richie didn't need his boyfriend right now. Richie needed a friend.

"Hey," Ben said as seriously as he could, squeezing Richie's hand lightly. "I don't care about what you're not. I love you for _you_ , Richie. The person that you _are_ , even right now, is about a million times as great as whoever you aren't. I love the Richie that's a giant nerd, the Richie that still loves those chicken nuggets that are shaped like dinosaurs, the Richie that, for whatever reason, decided that he loves me."

"I don't deserve you," Richie said slowly, squeezing Ben's hand back as he laced their fingers together. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"If _Richie Tozier_ loves me, then I must be pretty amazing," he smiled. "You know, Richie, being your boyfriend is really great, but being your friend at all is such a ridiculous honor."

"Well then, my dear friend, would it be alright if I say that I love you?" Richie asked softly, reaching up with his free hand to fix his glasses as they were slowly slipping down the bridge of his nose. "You know, as friends do."

"Of course," Ben replied, watching in the deepest admiration as Richie looked at him and laughed softly. "Because it is an absolute pleasure to be your friend."

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on tumblr! @kenzie-ann27


End file.
